Movie Reviews

Home Movie Reviews

Chicken Review – Beautifully Gut Wrenching.

Every now and again British Independent films produce a beautiful little gem that needs to be shouted about from the rooftops, and in Chicken, we have just that. Low budget but huge on heart and exceptional performances from its virtually unknown cast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1e-d57_7kgThe feature length directorial debut for Joe Stephenson, Chicken is already causing a stir and has had the...

Okja Review

The Cannes audience may have booed Okja back in May, but they got it wrong. This story of a genetically modified porker is much more than another pig in the city.The Okja of the title is a pig, but this is no ordinary porker.  She’s the genetic creation of the Mirando Corporation – not to be confused with Monsanto...

Miss Sloane Review

In John Madden’s Miss Sloane it's implied women of high intellect, top of their game and always one step ahead of her male counterparts have to be a woman with the traits of a cold-hearted and arrogant trout, one that views sex as a treat and hires male escort’s to fulfil her sexual necessity, that, in a nutshell, is...

Suicide Squad Review

Warner Bros. may have to start thinking about their DC universe strategy after the big disappointment of Batman V Superman earlier this year, Whilst Suicide Squad certainly outranks this poor show of entertainment it still nowhere lives up to the hype. Superman is dead to the delight of the US Government and U.S. Intelligence officer Amanda Waller played with a...

Golden Years Review

When you mention Nick Knowles, script writer and executive producer of film doesn’t ultimately spring to mind. However, with Golden years, the DIY SOS presenter is exactly that and he hasn’t done too bad a job however even with a meagre budget it didn’t turn out too great either. Even behind the camera, in the Director’s chair, BAFTA award winning...

Get Out Review

It’s not easy piecing together a thrilling horror which has very rarely been seen before, one that will have audiences beguiled by its mixture of humour, horror, political statements and a barrel load of suspense. Jordan Peele, in his directorial debut with Get Out, has broken out of his comedy corner and rustled up a dish of fresh, fun yet...

Blood Father Review

When Blood Father opens with a scene showing a young girl buying a copious amount of bullets but only when she asks for a packet of cigarettes is asked for ID you know you’re in for one hell of a tongue in cheek brutal ride of pure action packed frivolity. Aiding the shoot-em-up party in Blood Father is the return...

The BFG Review

Nostalgia reigns in Stephen Spielberg’s film adaptation of the much loved writings of Roald Dahl. The BFG will connect not only with its younger audience but mostly with the parents who grew up with Dahl’s 1982 offering. Staying true to The BFG’s origin’s, Spielberg has created a film with magical wonder and tender grace which becomes a visual spectacle for...

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review

The a-holes are back with a big bang of colour and euphoric family bickering that falters with a little whimper, riding the tails of the first in order to make Vol. 2 an eggtastic success with the scene-stealing baby Groot and an emotionally touching shocker that tugs lightly at the heart strings as well as taking you by surprise.If...

Demolition Review – An emotionless melodrama which fails to connect to its audience.

With Demolition we hope for the same kind of drama and script as Director Jean –Marc Vallee’s Oscar Nominated Dallas Buyers Club and Wild. What we get is a trip into the abyss, filled with nothingness making you feel empty and cheated, leaving nothing but disappointment. From the very onset, Demolition tries way too hard on the melodrama front, almost...

Baywatch Review

Cue the slo-mo and skimpy red cossies – Baywatch is back!  But you might wonder why ……It’s not so long ago that a certain Guy Ritchie made a film called The Man From UNCLE.  The resemblance to the original TV series was fleeting, to say the least: the secret agent double act kept their names, but anybody expecting a...

Hell or High Water Review

Right off the back of playing a lead iconic character for the third time, in the rebooted trilogy of one of the biggest and most influential shows in pop culture, Chris Pine now stars in Hell or High Water, a small independent film set in Texas, trading in his stun gun for a pistol. In Hell or High Water, Toby...

Kong: Skull Island Review

Since 1933, the giant ape, Kong, has been the subject of at least seven movies either in an original storyline or via remakes including the last offering with Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of the 1933 original, King Kong.  Whilst Jackson’s offering was not quite up to epic proportions, Kong: Skull Island only out ape’s it with its CGI battles...

Going in Style Review

In Going In Style, a trio of A-list pensioners decide to rob a bank.  But can the film get away with it?There’s a moment in Zach Braff’s Going In Style where would-be bank robbers Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin are watching Dog Day Afternoon on TV.  It’s armchair research for them, but for the audience, it’s a...

War on Everyone Review

Crime fighting comedy buddy movies are coming out on top this year, where people will tend to draw comparisons between this year’s The Nice Guys with War on Everyone there is just one major difference - these boys are oh so bad. Surprisingly, War on Everyone has English/Irish director, John Michael McDonagh at the helm. Why surprisingly? McDonagh was responsible...

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Review

Back in 2012, the decision to cast Hollywood high-flyer Tom Cruise as towering and built ex-army major Jack Reacher wasn’t met with unanimous praise. At 5 ft 7, Cruise certainly doesn’t reach the heights of 6 ft 5 Jack Reacher. But the author of the current 21 book spanning novel series featuring the character, Lee Child, hinted that the casting...

London Town Review

There is no better way to end a miserable year than a throwback feel-good coming-of-age story filled with an abundance of nostalgia in the form of a number of tracks from The Clash pumping through the backdrop and veins of the narrative of the story which is based on the screenplay of The Untitled Joe Strummer Project. Set in 1979...

The Weekend Review

Films suffer from a lot of stereotyping, even more so in comedies. As you refine the genre and go from British comedies then focus on urban British comedies, it means there are fewer films on offer to break this practice. So when something comes along that seems to have really paid attention to how real young people act, behave, talk,...

Up For Love Review

You may know the face of Jean Dujardin from the 2011 award winning film The Artist, the black and white silent film which won the hearts of critics and audiences alike worldwide. Now Dujardin is back as a pint-sized charmer in Up For Love, it may be quirky but it doesn’t hit the same buttons as The Artist. In Up...

Patriots Day Review

With 2017’s Deepwater Horizon, Director Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg proved to be quite an explosive pair in their collaboration which brought to life the real life story of this drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, with spectacular vision and creativity (and one of the biggest sets ever built) it was a truly mesmerising piece of cinema. Not even...

The Accountant Review

Never take people at face value, people are made up of many complex layers and Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant emphatically uncovers the secret layers of those who would appear dull on the surface such as Ben Affleck’s Accountant Christian Wolff. Affleck – who has come into The Accountant fully pumped from his role as Batman in Batman Vs Superman –...

Lady Macbeth Review

Titles can be deceptive, despite the title here, Lady Macbeth isn’t the wife of Shakespeare’s tyrannical ruler who slowly delves deep into the realms of madness, however, this production is a cunning minx of murderously intoxicating drama, and utterly absorbing filmmaking at its finest.The true subject of this beguiling period piece is in fact director William Oldroyd and screenwriter...

Kubo and the Two Strings Review

Kubo and the Two Strings is the stop-animated successor of Coraline, Paranorman, and the Boxtrolls. Helmed from talented animator Travis Knight as his directorial debut. Kubo stands out from the previous filmography of his producing and animating efforts at Laika, through not being horror or a derivative thereof. Kubo is something completely different, with very few animated films to compare...

Pete’s Dragon Review

High expectations never come with most remakes in an industry that seems to have lost its originality. That could be said of Disney’s remake of the 1977 classic of the Pete's Dragon, however, the 2016 version came as a surprising delight albeit a little cheesy in places. Director, David Lowry has given Pete’s Dragon a whole host of charm and...

Gold Review

There’s nothing quite as frustrating, as a five-star performance from your lead than a film that leaves you feeling so flat even an air pump couldn’t lift the air from underneath you. Unfortunately for Matthew McConaughey, Gold is filled with nothing but hot air that is not even worthy of a bronze. Donning the balding sweep over and pot belly...

La La Land Review

The feel-good days of the Golden age of cinema and Hollywood have been lost for many years to the gluttonous money making franchises the studios churn out at the speed of a juggernaut. There is no questioning the immense excitement and buzz La La Land is creating amongst not only critics across the world but the awards institutions too.From the...

Broken Review

Everyone has those days when they don’t want to get out of bed, dreading the day ahead and it’s arduous tasks. But as a carer, those feelings don’t matter when someone is relying on you to live their life. Shaun Robert Smith’s Broken screened at this year’s Frightfest, opens with live-in carer Evie battling with herself to get out of...

Ben-Hur Review

With an epic biblical classic such as Ben-Hur, which was originally a novel by Lew Wallace published in 1880, comes with it the desire to remake the hell out of it, from films to TV series and 2016 see’s yet another remake. One that excites all too rarely and is full of cringe-worthy moments to make the best of...

Truth Review – Blanchett and Redford take us on a Journalistic Trip for Truth

The biopics are coming thick and fast so far this year, and with Truth, we see another intriguing film burst onto the big screen which gives a salute to the investigative journalists out there with Cate Blanchett take on the role of Mary Mapes - ex-CBS Producer of the infamous 60 Minutes show. Not too long ago we were enriched...

Keanu Review

Little known in the UK Comedy Duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele has been making American audiences weep with laughter for years. Keanu see’s the duo break onto the big screen with the help of an adorable kitten named.... yes you guessed it Keanu. Everything about Keanu has cheese written all over it and it simply shouldn’t work as a...